Refrigerator car construction



. April 7, 1942.. v c E RE 2,278,834

REFRIGERATOR CAR CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 15, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Inventor.- I Charles Eflrede A rifz, 1942.

c. E. CREDE 2,278,834

REFRIGERATOR CAR CQNSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 13, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mwnm'C/zarles E'rea'e Patented Apr. 7, 1942 REFRIGERATOR CAR CONSTRUCTIONCharles E. Crede, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Standard Railway DevicesCompany,

of Delaware Application January 13,

'7' Claims.

This inven ion relates-to refrigerator cars used to transport perishablecommodities at a predetermined temperature. The essential features of arefrigerator car are an insulated body for water ice, eutectic ice,brine or dry ice, are

disposed immediately below the roof of the car. The l'ading issupportedin spaced relation to the floor by a foraininous rack. Flues, preferablyassociated, with theside walls of the car,' communicate between thecooling means and the space under the floor rack to provide a path forthe circulation of air. The path is from the cooling means downwardlythrough the aforementioned flues, through the space under the floorrack, upwardly through the lading compartment thereby coolingthe lading,and finally to the cooling means from where the cycle is repeated.

The refrigerant containers in a car of this type are commonly arrangedwith a row thereof adjacent each side wall and a space extendinglongitudinally of the car at the center thereof between the rows ofcontainers. The containers are also preferably spaced apartlongitudinally of the car so that carlines may extend between thecontainers and be secured to the opposite side walls of the car.

An object of the invention is to provide a strong, light and easily onlyprovides an adequate support forvthe containers, but also is providedwith means to permit circulating air to come in contact with the ends ofthe container thereby contributing to the efficiency of therefrigeration.

The refrigerant container commonly used in a car of this type has endwalls made pan shaped with the flanges thereof projecting outwardly.Another object of the invention is to provide a carline well adapted touse with this kind of refrigerant container.

A further object of 31011 of a carline which may the invention is theprovibe easily attached to the side wall of the car as well as to therefrigerant container..

Other objects and advantagesof my invention will be apparent fromthe'following detailed description by referring to the accompanyingdrawings.

Inthe drawings:

made carline which not a corporation 1940,8erial No. 313,674

Fig 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a refrigerator car showing aportion of a side wall, the end portions of two adjacent refrigerantcontainers and a part of the carline.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional View through the carlinesand refrigerant containers shown in Fig. l. The section is taken on line2-2 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a portion of the structure shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an exploded view of the attachment of the carline to a sidewall of the car.

Fig. 5 shows a modified form of carline;

Figs. 6, i7 and 8 are similar to Fig. 2but show modified forms ofcarline and attachment of the carline to the refrigerant container.

Fig. 9 is a section on line 9-9 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 10 shows a modified structure which may be used in place of thestructure shown in Fig. 9.

In the type of refrigerator car shown in the drawings the wall 2 iscomprised of an outer sheathing 4; an inner post 6; a flue sheet 8; alining It and insulation l2 between the flue sheet 8 and the sheathingl. The flue outwardly projecting panels 14 formed therein to provideflues" [6 between the panels 14 and the lining ill for'i'low ofrefriger'ated air.

The refrigerant containers l8 preferably have the bottom 19 and sidewalls 20 formed integral and the top 22 formed of a separate piece 24and secured to the bottom part by bolts 26. The end walls '21 arepreferably pan shaped with the flanges 28 projecting outwardly inflatwise relation with the bottom is, side walls 20 and top 22 of thecontainer 48 and secured thereto. A hatch 39 is preferably provided inthe top 22 of each container it for the loading of refrigerant.

In the form of my invention shown in Fig. 1, a carline 36 is comprisedof a substantially vertical plate 3! which extends substantiallybetween'the opposite side walls 2 of the car. The upper and lowermarginal portions of the plate 31 are slit preferably vertically to aconsiderable distance from the upper and lower edges of the plate. Theparts of the plate between the ally, preferably in alternate directionsand inclined, to form flanges 39; 4B. The flanges 39, 40 preferably havehorizontal edge portions 4|, 42

which are secured to the upper and lower parts'respectively of therefrigerant container 18. In the modification shown in Figs. 1 and 2 theupper edge portions 4! are disposed above the top 22 of the container IBand the lower edge portions 42 above th'e outwardly projecting flanges.28 of the end walls 21' This arrangement facilitates the sheet 8 hasslits are bent later removal of any refrigerant container withoutdisturbing the others, which removal may be accomplished by removal ofthe bolts 44.

In the modification shown in Fig. 6 the flanges 39, 4,0 of the carline36 project inside the flanges 28 of the end walls 21 and are securedthereto, preferably by the rivets 45. This arrangement provides greaterstrength than that heretofore described, but is undesirable from anassembly standpoint, inasmuch as one refrigerator container cannot beremoved without disturbing the others.

Fig. 7 is similar to Fig. 6 except for the elimination of the rivets 45and the substitution of welding 48 therefor.

In Fig. 8 the carline flanges 39, 40 are secured directly to the endwalls 21 of the containers instead of to the flanges 28 thereof or tothe tops 22 or bottoms H! of the containers.

The end portions of the carline plate 3'! are preferably formed with theflanges 54, 55 horizontal and oppositely projecting so as to form incombination with the web 51 a Z-shape. Separate angle pieces 59, 60having horizontal legs 63, 64 are secured to the end portions of theplate 31 projecting oppositely from the flanges 54, 55 to form anI-section, as shown in Fig. 4. Brackets 61 for supporting the carline 36are secured to the inner posts 6, as shown in Fig. 4. Each bracket 61comprises a substantially vertical web 68 and spaced apart horizontalflanges 15, H, the webs 68 of the brackets 61 being spaced apart for theinsertion of the vertical web of the carline 36. The upper (54) andlower (55) flanges of the plate 3'1, as well as the legs 63, 64 of theangle pieces 59, 60, secured thereto, rest upon and may be secured tothe flanges Hi, H of the brackets 61, thereby supporting the carline 36.

As shown in Fig. 3, there are refrigerant containers l8 adjacent eachside wall 2 and a space 15 between the containers [8 at the center ofthe car. This space 15 between the containers is preferably spanned bydiaphragm pieces 11 in substantial alignment with the end walls 2! ofthe containers [8 and may be secured to the containers. The upper (39)and lower (40) flanges of the carline 36 are secured to the diaphragm11, as shown in Fig. 9, to reinforce the carline 36 at the centerthereof. Apertures 19 are provided in the diaphragm 11 for circulationof air near the carline 36.

Fig. shows a modified construction in which the diaphragm 82 issubstantially horizontal and also acts to reinforce the carline 36 atthe center thereof.

Since a refrigerator car of this type usually has a row of refrigerantcontainers l8 near each wall 2, the containers brace l8 themselves byreason of the carlines 36 interposed therebetween against longitudinalmovement and the structure shown in Fig. 1 therefore provides a verystrong support for the containers l8. Means may be provided to preventthe movement of one container relative to another, such as the straps85, 86 shown in Figs 6 and 7, which extend between and are secured tothe adjacent end portions of adjacent containers. Such a constructionprovides a strong girder type carline having a vertically disposed web81, an upper chord comprising the laterally disposed flanges 39 and thestraps 85 and a bottom chord comprising laterally disposed flanges 40and the lower straps 86.

Fig. 5 shows a modified form of carline 36 in which-slots 90 areprovided between the laterally projecting flanges 9| instead of slits,as shown in the carline of Fig. 1. An arrangement, such as shown in Fig.5, provides greater opportunity for air flow between the ends ofadjacent containers.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of theinvention, though it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as itis obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of theclaims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. Means to support a plurality of refrigerant containers including acarline supported at its opposite ends by spaced apart walls of arefrigerator car and disposed between a pair of said refrigerantcontainers, said carline having oppositely projecting upper and lowerflanges extending outwardly therefrom and secured to said containers.

2. Means to support a plurality of refrigerant containers including acarline supported at its opposite ends by spaced apart walls of arefrigerator car and disposed between a pair of said refrigerantcontainers, said carline comprising a substantially vertical platehaving the upper and lower marginal portions thereof slit, the parts ofsaid plate between said slits being bent laterally to form flangessecured to said containers.

3. Means to support a pluralityof refrigerant containers including acarline supported at its opposite ends by spaced apart walls of arefrigerator car and disposed between a pair of said refrigerantcontainers, said carline comprising a substantially vertical platehaving the upper and lower marginal portions thereof slit, the parts ofsaid plate between said slits being bent laterally on alternate sides ofsaid plate to form flanges secured to said containers.

4. Means to support a plurality of refrigerant containers including acarline supported at its opposite ends by spaced apartwalls of arefrigerator car and disposed between a pair of said refrigerantcontainers, said carline comprising a substantially vertical platehaving the upper and lower marginal portions thereof slit, the parts ofsaid plate between said slits being bent laterally to form flangessecured to said containers, each upper flange projecting on the oppositeside of said plate from the lower flange aligned vertically therewith.

5. Means to support a plurality of refrigerant containers including acarline supported at its opposite ends byspaced apart walls of arefrigerator car and disposed between a pair of said refrigerantcontainers, said carline comprising a substantially vertical platehaving the upper and lower marginal portions thereof slit, the parts ofsaid plate between said slits being bent laterally to form flangessecured to said containers, the upper and lower flanges being inclinedupwardly and downwardly, respectively, from said plate, and membersextending between and secured to said containers adjacent certain ofsaid flanges.

6. Means to support a plurality of refrigerant containers including acarline supported at its opposite ends by spaced apart walls of arefrigerator car and disposed between a pair of said refrigerantcontainers, the adjacent ends of said containers comprisingsubstantially vertical walls having outstanding peripheral margins, saidcarline comprising a substantially vertical plate having the upper andlower marginal portions thereof slit, the parts of said plate betweensaid slits being bent laterally to form flanges secured to said margins.

7. Means to support a plurality of refrigerant containers including acarline supported at its opposite ends by spaced apart walls of arefrigerator car and disposed between a pair of said refrigerantcontainers, said carline having 0p-' positely projecting upper and lowerflanges extending outwardly therefrom and secured to said containers,the upper and lower flanges being inclined upwardly and downwardly,respectively, from said carline, and members extending between andsecured to said containers adjacent certain of said flanges.

CHARLES E. CREDE.

